Author(s)

Date Approved

Document Type

Degree Name

Department

Educational Services, Administration, and Higher Education

College

College of Education

First Advisor

Sisco, Burton

Subject(s)

College preparation programs--New Jersey

Disciplines

Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand what impact the six-week summer Pre-College Institute (PCI) had on the development of academic self-efficacy in the lives of sophomore students enrolled at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ during the 2013-2014 academic year who had participated in the PCI summer program prior to beginning their freshman year. This research asked students questions regarding their personal and academic growth, challenges, and successes. They were also asked to consider to what extent their participation in the summer PCI program impacted them as college students. In order to understand the qualitative data, results from the content analysis of these interviews were compared to skills found in the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) created by Owen and Froman (1988); his tool assisted in understanding increases in academic self-efficacy based on development in academic skills. This study revealed that the PCI summer program is structured in such a way that positive change became inevitable. While these students completed high school with varying levels of academic competence, their participation helped to mold them into a uniform example of academic strength.